Sky scene November 2001 to February 2002

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=22 BGCOLOR="#330099" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="040000d2erkqrf.gif"> <div> Derby and District Astronomical Society - Aries Magazine</div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=145 BGCOLOR="#333399" TEXT="#080000" background="03fa2c00erkjzj.gif"> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Aries Astronomy magazine on line From th"><U>HOME</U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id52.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Autumn 2001"><U>Autumn 2001</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id53.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Safe solar observing"><U>Safe solar observing</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id57.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Venus"><U>Venus</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id56.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="TV listings"><U>TV listings</U></A></div> <div> <B>Sky scene November 2001 to February 2002</B></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=458 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" background="06a92963.gif"> <div> <B>Aries Astronomy magazine on line- From the Derby and District Astronomical Society</B></div> <div> <IMG SRC="04107040.gif" border=0 width="263" height="4" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="559" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 45 WIDTH="466"><div> Sky Scene</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP ROWSPAN=2><NOBR><div>  <img src="HTMLobj-376/aniGif.gif" border="0" align="bottom" width="66" height="80">  </div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 34 WIDTH="466"><div> <I><B>Author: Kevin Woodward</B></I></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div>  <A NAME="askjeeves"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#FF6666" FACE="Comic Sans MS" >Why not search the internet for more information about stars and constellations...</FONT></div> <div>  <IMG SRC="http://service.bfast.com/bfast/serve?bfmid=31103363&siteid=35044309&bfpage=football" BORDER="0" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1" NOSAVE > <FORM ACTION="http://service.bfast.com/bfast/click" > <INPUT TYPE="hidden" NAME="siteid" VALUE="35044309" > <INPUT TYPE="hidden" NAME="bfpage" VALUE="football"> <INPUT TYPE="hidden" NAME="bfmid" VALUE="31103363" > <TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" BORDER="0"> <TR> <TD BGCOLOR="#009900"><IMG SRC="http://www.ask.co.uk/docs/about/questionboxes/questionbox16_a.gif" WIDTH="120" HEIGHT="73"></TD> </TR> <TR><FORM ACTION="http://www.ask.co.uk/main/askjeeves.asp" METHOD="GET"> <TD BGCOLOR="#009900" ALIGN="center" BACKGROUND="http://www.ask.co.uk/docs/about/questionboxes/questionbox16_b.gif" WIDTH="120" HEIGHT="21"><INPUT TYPE="text" NAME="ask" SIZE="13"> <INPUT TYPE="hidden" NAME="scope" VALUE="web"> <INPUT TYPE="hidden" NAME="origin" VALUE="nnnn"> 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</blockquote> </blockquote> </body> </html>  </div> <bR> <div> November</div> <bR> <div> Uranus, Mars and Neptune are visible within 16 degrees for observers with a clear SW horizon. By the middle of the month the trio are setting between about 9 to 10:30 pm. Also by the middle of the month, Jupiter and Saturn rise during rise at about 5 pm and 7 pm respectively. Mercury is a morning object, rising about an hour before the Sun. Make sure that the Sun has not risen if you are searching for it using binoculars. On the stellar front, the familiar and bright winter constellations of Taurus and Orion are rising. Enough is known about these from previous sky notes so I will turn to the northern skies for the constellation focus for this month. Camelopardolis is a large constellation that sprawls from near the pole star and runs between Cassiopea and Ursa Major. It’s stars are all fainter than magnitude 4. It appears to have been formed in 1614, by either Hevelius or maybe Bartschius. It was not officially recognised at the time and so was not included on many star maps, even from the late seventeenth century. The ancient Chinese regarded Camelopardalis as a separate constellation well before western astronomers did. They recognised seven asterism within the group, including ‘unostentatious virtue’ and ‘the State Umbrella’! Beta Cam is a magnitude 4.2 yellow star which has a magnitude 9 companion, visible in small telescopes. T Cam is a long period variable, deep red in colour with a range of mag 6.4 to 14.4 over 373 days. There is an easily seen open star cluster, NGC 1502, mag 5.3. This has about 15 stars and binoculars show it well. </div> <bR> <div> December</div> <bR> <div> This is the month in which the classic constellations of the Winter are rising early, most notably, Orion. This is a real favourite because of its abundance of very bright stars. Take the opportunity to reacquaint yourself with M42, the Orion Nebula, which is the birthplace of new stars.  With a moderate sized telescope, look for the trapezium within this nebula. Taurus will be even higher in the sky now and it is worthwhile seeking out the Crab Nebula, M1. This is the remains of a supernova explosion (see Aries , Spring 1997), at the centre of which is the first pulsar to be seen in visible light (at least as far as I am aware, it was the first). Unfortunately, this is beyond the reach of amateurs. The bright star Capella is now very noticeable, together with the rest of the constellation Auriga. Capella has long been known as a spectroscopic binary star but in 1998, a team from Cambridge used state of the art technology to see its companion using the technique of interferometry. Within the boundaries of Auriga lie the star clusters M36, M37 and M38. These are well worth seeking out though they can be awkward in instruments of less than 50mm aperture. M36 is the smallest, with around 60 stars of mags. 8 - 13. The Geminid meteor shower is usually good and peaks around the 13th. Its normal limits are 7th  - 16th Dec. Mars is low in the SW, whilst the ‘big two’ Jupiter and Saturn are prominent. Saturn is Due south before midnight whilst Jupiter is due S about 2 hours later.</div> <bR> <div> January</div> <bR> <div> Facing southwards, the most prominent constellation is Orion. It is easily recognisable because of the 3 distinctive bright stars which for the asterism of Orion‘s belt. Orion is also easy to spot because it is the only one in the northern hemisphere to contain two first magnitude stars. Top left is Betelgeuse, a red giant star whilst bottom right is Rigel, which is much whiter in colour.   Down and to the left of Orion lies the unmistakable Sirius - the dog star. This is reasonably close to us, a mere 26 LY away. It has a white dwarf companion, the Pup, which is hard to spot owing to the glare of Sirius. Sirius is the brightest star we see, apart from the Sun. Since it is always rather low in our skies, the thickness of atmosphere through which the light must travel, causes Sirius to twinkle violently on most nights, changing colour rapidly. North east of Orion lies Gemini, with the two bright stars of Castor and Pollux, the twins of mythology.  Search out M35, an open star cluster at the feet of the Twins. </div> <bR> <div> February</div> <bR> <div> The arrival of February sees the constellation of Cancer high in the sky. This gives an excellent opportunity to observe Praesepe, the Beehive cluster, object no. 44 in Messier‘s catalogue of fuzzy blobs in the sky! From a dark site it is visible to the naked eye. It is also known as the manger (from which the asses - g and d Cancri feed). Galileo observed this with his telescope and counted 36 stars in the cluster. Using 10 X 50 binoculars, around 75 are visible. It was well known in ancient times and was used as a means of weather forecasting:</div> <div> A murky manger with both stars [g and d] shining unaltered is a sign of rain - Aratus. A further object, M67, is visible as a nebulous spot in binoculars. It is an open star cluster and a red and orange star can be resolved using a small telescope. Between Cancer and Orion lies Canis Minor, the lesser dog. Its main feature is Procyon, the 8th brightest star in the sky. This, like Sirius, is a difficult double, it has a magnitude 9.5 companion. It took the 36" Lick telescope to see this in 1896. Also becoming visible this month is Leo, one of the classic spring constellations. Insomniacs could spend some time observing the large number of deep sky objects associated with this constellation in the clear winter sky! By the end of the month, Venus will become more prominent in the evening sky, setting about 40 minutes after the Sun does.</div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>